Being You: A New Science of Consciousness, by Anil Seth
Why would anyone read a book on consciousness? Well, like elbows and social security numbers, we all got one. And what I’ve been taught about consciousness doesn’t hold up scientifically. Take Descartes. His 17th -Century Mind/Body dualism doesn’t hold up under scientific scrutiny, according to Seth. Seth updates Descartes’ famous “I think, therefore I am,” to “I predict (myself) therefore I am.”
That’s because the author sees the brain as a prediction machine. It takes the chaotic information of daily existence and makes guesses about it, and that is our reality. So, we’ll use your red patio chair as an example. It’s not red. We perceive cues that what we’re looking at matches what our brain considers to be “redness.” The redness, like many other things, are just in our heads. Much of what Seth discusses is based on mathematical theory created by Thomas Bayes in the 1700s. Bayes’ theorem is useful to know in our technology-driven world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem
Like many other scientific books (for example those by Richard Dawkins), Being You contains some really mind-blowing facts. Fear is created not by finding a giant bear standing before you, but by your reaction to that bear (like fleeing). The Rubber Hand experiment proves that we may be deceived about what is and what is our own bodies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxwn1w7MJvk And, if you’re interested in alternate states of consciousness, alien states of consciousness if you will, read Seth’s discussion near the end of his book on Octopi. They are able to transform their bodies into three different colors, and do so unconsciously. On top of that, they’re color-blind. Their consciousness is not at all like ours. And it may be that severed parts of octopi retain consciousness. Nevertheless, they problem-solve like humans and in labs even show interest in what the experimenter happens to be doing.
Seth’s take on whether machines will ever develop consciousness? He says it depends on your definition, but overall he is doubtful. It’s comforting to know that that AI agent at the Verizon help desk most likely isn’t plotting global annihilation.